


Five Bullets

by Tamoline



Category: Person of Interest (TV)
Genre: Angst, F/F, Gen, Philosophical Question Arise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-25
Updated: 2016-05-25
Packaged: 2018-06-10 18:13:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6968470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tamoline/pseuds/Tamoline
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Five bullets left and more than five hostiles incoming.</p><p>Yet another day in the life of Sameen Shaw.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Five Bullets

Five bullets left. 

From the sounds of the footsteps coming up the staircase, probably more than that incoming. Empty corridor, brightly lit, nowhere really to hide.

Shaw looks over at Root. “How are you doing for ammo?”

Root gives her a little shrug and moue. “I’m afraid that last engagement left me out of ammo.”

Shaw touches her comms. “Could use a little backup.”

“Having a few problems of our own here,” John says, the sound of gunfire almost drowning out his words.

“Great.”

Root tilts her head, then flashes a smile that she probably thinks is winning at Shaw. “Think you could shoot a hole in that fire extinguisher by the staircase?”

Shaw gives her a look as if to ask ‘Really?’, but Root just shrugs and takes - of all things - lipstick out of her handbag. “Not sure it’s really the time to touch up your makeup,” Shaw says as she takes aim. The first bullet (four left) creases a fold in the extinguisher, the second (three) ruptures it, causing it to spurt foam in a geyser.

“You do realise this isn’t a nineties kids’ movie,” she says to Root. The fact that Root has apparently taken the opportunity to draw an X on the wall in lipstick doesn’t exactly help matters.

Root smiles and steps back. “She has a plan. Now if you would shoot the centre of the X on three… two… one… now.”

Shaw takes the opportunity to roll her eyes, but does as instructed. (Two left) As soon as she pulls the trigger, the lights go out, all down the hallway, bathing everything in darkness.

From the direction of the staircase, there is what sounds like a group of people tripping over, maybe even falling down the stairs.

She can’t believe that actually worked. Maybe she *is* stuck in nineties kids’ movie.

“See, wasn’t that fun?” Root whispers from in front of her. Shaw resists the urge to roll her eyes as she jogs to catch up with her.

The sound of trickling water neatly marks the staircase in the darkness, as does the sound of people getting to their feet.

Just isn’t their lucky day, Shaw thinks, as she takes aim by that sound, and kicks the forerunner in the chest, maybe even the head, and knocks them further down.

“No time to dawdle,” Root says.

Grabbing hold of the bannister to maintain her balance in the darkness and the damp, Shaw kicks and stomps her way through the group. Sadly, the only gun she encounters goes skittering further down into the darkness when she clips it with her foot.

Once past the fleshy obstacles, the going gets quicker. Even faster when they get a few levels down and the lights are on.

Two hostiles are waiting at the bottom of the stairs, guarding the exit. Two bullets left, two shots. One hostile goes down (one left), the other seeks cover (zero) long enough for Root to get the downed hostile’s gun.

From there, the going gets much easier, and at least Shaw gets a gun with a mostly full clip.

Root bends over one of them, retrieves their comm. “Two escaping out the back with the object,” she says in a slightly deeper register.

“Roger,” comes the response.

“Hear that, Harry?” Root says over their comms. “Pressure should easing off you any second.”

“Well done, Ms Groves.”

“Oh, don’t thank me,” she says. “It’s not my plan, after all.” She turns to look at Shaw. “Let’s leave, shall we? It’d be rather giving the game away if we’re still here when they make it downstairs.”

They leave through the front.

“Oh, no.” Root murmurs.

Outside… outside the close area, the close buildings are fine. The ones further away, though… they get less distinct, lacking features. Like a sketch of a building rather than anything else. The ones in the distance just look like blank cuboids.

“The hell?” Shaw says.

“It’s a simulation,” Root says. “We’re in a simulation.”

“Huh,” Shaw says. “Been here before, I guess. Even if the last one I was in had a higher budget.”

“I don’t think that it’s quite the same,” Root says, her hand spasming, as if it’s looking for something to hold onto. Shaw glares at it then grips it with her own hand and Root shoots her a grateful look.

“Does it really matter?” Shaw asks. ”Just wait for the reset. Unless you’ve got something better to do.”

“I think we *are* the simulation,” Root says. “The Machine was looking for a way out of the situation.” She smiles, but its even more cracked than usual. “We’re part of the solution.”

“So, we’re what, just a program?” Shaw asks with the skepticism she feels the question deserves. She may have a personality disorder, but she’s fairly certain she would have noticed that.

“What is a person apart from a program running on a meat processor?” Root asks. “Why wouldn’t a good simulation have self awareness? And with Her recent upgrade, She can run simulations a lot better than good.”

“Whatever,” Shaw says. “If we’re just a simulation, why haven’t we ended?”

“Not all of us are safe yet,” Root murmurs, then she looks at Shaw, at her lips, and asks, “Would you mind if we-?”

Just then, of course, the front doors of the building open, revealing John and Harold, and-

SIMULATION END


End file.
